Marica F. Vilcek (née Gerháth) of New York, cofounder of the Vilcek Foundation, lifelong champion of immigrant contributions to the arts and sciences in the U.S., and mainstay of The Metropolitan Museum of Art died peacefully on March 23, 2026 at her home in New York. She was 89 and is survived by her husband, Jan.

“From her humble beginnings in Czechoslovakia, to becoming head curator in charge at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, to driving the creation of the Vilcek Foundation, Marica Vilcek led with conviction and selflessness,” says Rick Kinsel, president of the Vilcek Foundation. “Despite the early hardships she faced, Marica fiercely uplifted those around her. She will be remembered by many for the generosity, grace, and intelligence that shaped her choices throughout her life and career. I and the others at the Vilcek Foundation will especially miss her friendship and guidance.”

Early Life and Education

Vilcek was born on October 13, 1936, in the village of Ivanka pri Dunaji, Czechoslovakia. She was the second child and only daughter of Dezider Gerháth, a school administrator, and Mária Hámošová, a schoolteacher. Her childhood was profoundly difficult, and she suffered both physical and emotional abuse, which intensified after the Soviet-backed Communist regime took over in 1948.

Despite tremendous adversity, Vilcek graduated three years early at the age of 17 and was then admitted to the prestigious Charles University in Prague. She was the only student from Bratislava accepted at the time. Vilcek later attended Comenius University in Bratislava, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and a Candidate of Sciences’ degree in art history, which is the Czechoslovakian equivalent of a PhD. Shortly after, Vilcek worked at the Slovak National Gallery in the Department of Prints and Drawings, first as a curatorial assistant, then later as an assistant curator.

Love and Defection

In 1961, Marica Gerháth met Jan Vilcek, the love of her life, through a mutual acquaintance. She found the young medical researcher to be gentle, well-mannered, and a fine conversationalist. They married within nine months, at a civil ceremony with no family present. 

The couple eventually defected in 1964 to escape the oppressive regime in Czechoslovakia. After obtaining U.S. refugee visas in West Germany, they arrived in New York City in 1965, where Vilcek’s husband had been offered a faculty position in the Department of Microbiology at the New York University School of Medicine.

Career at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the spring of 1965, Vilcek began her career in New York as a volunteer at the Brooklyn Museum Library. Due to her work ethic and exceptional intellect, Vilcek received an offer from The Metropolitan Museum of Art only a few months later, starting what would become an over 30-year career with the museum. She joined the Registrar and Catalogueric Department, where she rose to the position of chief cataloguer for the museum in 1968. That same year, when the Prague Spring forced thousands of Czechoslovakian professionals into exile, old friends and acquaintances from Bratislava began appearing, penniless and desperate, on the couple’s doorstep. Although Vilcek and her husband could accommodate only two people at a time, they took in refugees for the next 15 years.

In 1974, Vilcek was appointed associate curator-in-charge at the museum, managing the Accessions and Catalogue Department. This active role allowed her to work on exhibitions with notable figures, including Diana Vreeland and former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who, in 1975, personally wrote to Vilcek, praising her “magic wand and…generous spirit.”

While at The Met, Vilcek established the institution’s world-renowned high school internship program, funding several of the early internships herself.

Founding The Vilcek Foundation

At the conclusion of their mutually successful careers, Vilcek and her husband decided to start a foundation, after realizing how their greatest pleasure in life had always come from helping others. In 2000, the couple established the Vilcek Foundation, which would support immigrant researchers and artists throughout the United States. To date, the Vilcek Foundation has awarded over $17 million in prizes, grants, and contributions in support of its mission, in addition to over $330 million in independent giving by Vilcek and her husband.

A Continued Love of the Arts

In 2010, Vilcek joined the board of the Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) at New York University, and in 2015, she was elected chair of the board. In 2021, the Institute renamed the Great Hall of the James B. Duke House in her honor. NYU President Andrew Hamilton reflected, “I cannot think of a more apt distinction than to name the Great Hall, the heart of the IFA’s long-time home, after Marica, who…so devotedly sustained the heart of IFA’s work.”

In addition to their accomplishments in the arts and sciences, Vilcek and her husband had a private passion for the boldness and ingenuity of American Modernist artists. As a result, the couple developed a world-class collection that includes seminal works by Christo, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis, and Isamu Noguchi. As advocates of these artists and their works, they demonstrated their enthusiasm through frequent loans to museums and exhibitions around the globe. Their collection serves as the basis for exhibitions such as Marsden Hartley: Adventurer in the Arts and From New York to New Mexico: Masterworks of American Modernism from the Vilcek Foundation Collection.

Vilcek and her husband were also avid collectors of Pueblo pottery, which prompted the Vilcek Foundation’s development of the exhibition Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery, in collaboration with the School for Advanced Research. This landmark community-curated exhibition was shown at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Vilcek Foundation from July 2023 through June 2024. It has since traveled to six locations nationwide.

Legacy and Remembrance

Notwithstanding her early hardships, Marica Vilcek was known for her sparkling charm, relentless generosity, and quiet elegance. She will be deeply missed but fondly remembered by her colleagues at the Vilcek Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, and beyond for her devotion to supporting fellow immigrants and other professionals in the arts.